I have owned my current boat for 9 years, Calabria Laguna direct drive, and have never had a problem, (so I thought) with a leaking shaft seal. I assumed that it had a dripless seal since it has always been fairly dry in the bilge, and the previous owner did not know what shaft seal he had, and had never messed with it. Plus it has somewhat difficult access, (had to remove engine cover and access cover)

It has started to leak copious amounts of water this year, so I did a search through this site, and couldn't find one similar to what I have with the nylon nuts. Is this the stuffed box version? It is very loose at the white nuts, I have as of yet taken it to the lake to see how bad it's leaking. Have I just been fortunate that it hasn't leaked in the last nine years? Should I re-stuff it regardless of what adjustment does. I'm going on a week long trip in two weeks, and want to make sure I have no problems. Thanks.

Take the cotter pin out, hold the white nut which is closest to the rubber part. Then turn the other white nut to the next location so the cotter pin can be re-installed. put boat back in water and have someone drive slowly while you are watching the shaft rotate and looking for leakage. . Keep doing this till you have 1 - 3 drops per minute. It must have leakage. Water is the lubricant so the rope seal does not burn. But if you cannot stop the excessive leak then you need a new Rope seal.